packaging and recycling - Coca-Cola Hellenic Social Responsibility ...

PACKAGING
AND RECYCLING
Packaging plays a vital role in maintaining product quality and safety as
beverages travel from production line to end-consumers. As a result,
packaging contributes to overall sustainability, preventing breakage
and spoilage. Nevertheless, the cans and bottles themselves account
for significant environmental impacts which we work to reduce at every
stage of their lifecycle, from manufacture to recycling and disposal.
51,000 Avoided tonnes PET since
2005 through lightweighting
• • • • •
64% of packaging waste
recovered and recycled in 19 countries
• • • • •
Increased the capacity of the Austrian
PET-to-PET plant
• • • • •
85%
Recycled or recovered
of production waste

Our Approach
We reduce the environmental footprint of our packaging by:
• Reducing materials and energy used in the manufacture of
packaging
• Using recycled or renewable content to replace non-renewable
material
• Championing the recovery and recycling of packages: working
with others to strengthen the infrastructure and consumer
participation
In addition to reducing use of non-renewable materials, these
strategies help to drive down the carbon footprint of our packages.
Our ultimate goal is to close the recycling loop, converting
used packages into new. We have committed to invest in bottleto-bottle
recycling plants wherever environmentally and economically
sustainable. We have done so in Austria, where we co-own
a plant which recycles up to 570 million PET bottles each year.
Reducing Packaging
Source reduction is the most significant way to diminish the
impact of packaging. By reducing the material content of our
packages, we reduce carbon emissions in manufacturing, as
well as subsequent transportation and recycling.
Our goal is that by 2012 we will reduce packaging used per litre
of beverage by 25% compared to 2004. In 2010, this packaging
ratio was 7% higher than in 2004 and we used 771,000 tonnes of
material, up 6.5% from last year. Much of this increase was due
to the replacement of wooden pallets used to transport cases
of beverage.
For more than a decade, we have focused on lightweighting
and all key packages now use considerably less material.
• Lighter PET bottles: During 2010, we established new benchmarks
for PET bottles. Our 500ml bottles for waters now
Lightweighting of Packages
2005
2010
PET 500ml
(sparkling)
Weight
28 g.
Weight
20.7 g.
Packaging Material Use Ratio
(g per lpb)
We have significantly reduced the material used to produce each of our main packages.
1. Lowest achieved: 12.2 grammes.
Glass 330ml PET 500ml
Weight
263 g.
(still)
Weight
210 g.
61 62
69 68
62
+7%
vs 2004
65
The amount of packaging material used to manufacture our products, per litre of
produced beverage, has remained broadly stable. In 2010 it was 7% above 2004.
weigh on average 18 grammes, 36% less than in 2005; while
our 500ml bottles for carbonated beverages are 26% lighter
(see below). As a result of these efforts, we avoided the use of
more than 4,500 tonnes of PET in 2010. Since 2004 our lightweighting
efforts have resulted in PET bottles that are now on
average 16% lighter.
• Short-height plastic closures: We continue to roll out shorter
bottle closures across our business. Not only do these closures
use less material, but they also allow bottle necks to
be shorter and lighter, further reducing material use. By using
these closures, we avoided 527 tonnes of material in 2010.
• Light-weight glass bottles: In 2010 we introduced 55 million
light-weight glass bottles using up to one third less material.
• Cans and cartons: Although these represent only 16% of our
primary packaging mix, we continue to work with suppliers
on sustainability projects that include lightweighting.
• Secondary packaging: We minimise our use of cardboard,
shrink film and other materials to deliver products to business
customers. Such projects benefit customers, too, reducing
their packaging waste and labour costs.
Average weight
28 g.
Average weight
18 g. 1
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Packaging and Recycling
As we seek opportunities to remove material from our packages,
we work within constraints. If a package is not strong
enough to withstand transportation and storage, this will lead to
product waste, which typically accounts for considerably higher
CO 2 emissions than packaging alone. Consumer appeal is another
important consideration since the look, feel and convenience
of packaging plays a significant role in brand preference
and purchasing decisions.
Recycled and Renewable Content
Using recycled or renewable content is another way we lessen
the impact of our packaging. These materials replace non-renewable
materials, and their production uses much less energy
– 85% and 95% less for recycled PET and aluminium respectively.
While we focus on increasing the recycled content of our
packages, The Coca-Cola Company has developed packaging
made with renewable raw materials, such as the PlantBottle.
Recycled PET
Aluminium cans and glass bottles contain up to 60% recycled
content. By contrast, the maximum recycled content in our PET
bottles was 30% in 2010. We increased the recycled PET we used
in 2010 to approximately 6,500 tonnes. Nevertheless, this still
represents a small proportion of total PET usage and we aim to
increase this. The greatest obstacle is lack of a stable supply of
recycled PET feedstock. Around half of PET bottles are recycled,
of which approximately two-thirds 2 are diverted into the PET
fibres and sheet industry which does not demand food-grade
quality standards. We must therefore enhance the efficiency of
PET collection (see below) and increase our share of the recycled
material produced. In 2010, we supported the introduction
of another production line at the bottle-to-bottle recycling plant
At the Pet-to-Pet Recycling plant in Muellendorf, Austria, a new processing
line has been installed. The state-of-the-art recycling plant has been
producing PET flakes from recycled PET bottles for many years and now
using the latest technologies to turn used PET bottles into granulate.
2. PETcore.org
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we co-own in Austria. With access to more reprocessed PET, we
aim to produce bottles with higher recycled content.
PlantBottle
In 2011, Coca-Cola Hellenic will launch PlantBottle, the
award-winning PET bottle developed by The Coca-Cola
Company. Up to 30% of the PET in this package is derived
from renewable plant-based waste material. The
bottle has a lower carbon footprint than traditional PET
yet maintains the same performance standards and is fully recyclable.
Coca-Cola Hellenic will trial PlantBottle in Switzerland.
Promoting Recycling
For our packages to be recycled or recovered, we work with industry
and government to achieve two important pre-conditions.
Firstly, we set up schemes to collect, recycle or recover packaging.
Secondly, we encourage consumers to play their part in
closing the recycling loop; otherwise empty cans and packages
end up as landfill or litter, not valuable feedstock for recycling.
Recovery Organisations
In 19 countries, Coca-Cola Hellenic has led the establishment of
organisations to collect, recycle and recover packaging. In turn,
these bodies work with 29,000 municipalities to provide 135 million
people with access to collection systems. In 2010, 64% of
our packaging was recycled or recovered in these countries.
The challenge is to bring all territories up to speed, as there are
still countries where collection and recycling are limited or nonexistent.
We promote producer responsibility schemes since
they facilitate both environmental and economic progress.
During 2010, two new recovery organisations came into being.
In the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM),
Pakomak was officially approved, starting operations in 2011.
In Serbia, Sekopak completed its first year of operations. Residential
collection systems have been set up in 21 municipalities
together with campaigns to teach residents how to separate
waste. First-year results exceeded targets with almost
nine tonnes of packaging recovered. Since some municipalities
previously had no residential waste collection, this result is
particularly encouraging.
Other progress during 2010 included:
• In Romania, we extended collection systems to include rural
households. Again, this marked the first collection of waste
of any kind. In 2010, 38,000 tonnes of PET were collected for
recycling.

• In Russia, the new packaging and environment coalition Rus-
PEC, chaired by Coca-Cola Hellenic, held its first multi-stakeholder
conference. By bringing together government agencies,
authorities, suppliers, manufacturers and recyclers, we
developed comprehensive proposals for PET collection and
recycling for submission to the Russian Parliament.
• In Hungary, we held a multi-stakeholder forum on PET packaging
waste. This led to new projects, including a lifecycle
analysis with the Ministry of Environment, on-pack labelling
of recycled content and other consumer messaging.
Where recovery systems are in place, we remain actively involved
and retain an ownership stake in 18 organisations. During
2010, we began a new initiative to review and improve their
performance. We paid almost €42 million in recovery fees in
2010.
We continue to work with government and industry to promote
market mechanisms, technological and sorting innovations
and creation of equitable closed loop packaging solutions.
At an international level, we support efforts by industry
associations to work towards a global standard of producer
responsibility.
Mobilising Consumers
Since consumer participation is vital to the success of recycling
initiatives, we support education and awareness campaigns.
We also mobilise communities to support clean-up operations
and anti-littering campaigns.
To stem the growing problem of plastic pollution in the Upper
Tisza river basin, we support environmental projects in Romania
and Ukraine. Lack of waste collection led residents to dump
rubbish in rivers, floodplains or landfills. In addition to pioneering
rural collection, we conducted education and awareness
campaigns and clean-up operations.
Even where recycling infrastructure is established, consumers
often lack access when away from home. We therefore include
collection schemes at all events that we support, from sports
Tackling plastic waste pollution in Ukraine
Landfilled Waste Ratio
(g/lpb)
5.0
3.0 3.0 2.8
Total Landfilled Waste
(million kg)
Production
volume
4.5
37.2
29.7
34.3
33.7
1.9
21.6
-71%
vs 2004
1.5
-58%
vs 2004 baseline
17.6
-5%
vs 2010
-90%
vs baseline
-80%
vs 2004
baseline
tournaments and music festivals to product sampling. In 2010,
we collected 141 tonnes of packaging at events.
In-Plant Recycling
Our goal is that all plants will recover or recycle at least 90%
of production waste by 2015. We are on track to achieve this
with 39 plants recycling 90% of waste and a further 14 plants
achieving rates of 80%. As a result, we diverted 103,000
tonnes of waste from landfill, an absolute reduction of 58%
since 2004.
In the rural community of Drotyntsi, plastic waste had blocked a cross-section of the river and led to flooding. Our Green
Danube partnership worked with local authorities to address the source of the problem by installing residential waste
collection and setting up a collection centre where plastic waste is compressed and baled, ready for recycling. In addition
to tackling a local environmental issue, the project has also created jobs in the collection system. A local awareness
campaign is now underway. We also organised clean-up activities along the river.
PAckAGING AND PAckAGING WAsTE POlIcy
PET-TO-PET REcyclING PlANT
The amount of waste from plants that is sent to landfill, relative to the volume
produced, is now 71% below 2004 levels. This results from reducing total
waste and increasing recycling rates.
Total waste from bottling plants that is sent to landfill is now 58% below 2004.
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